Remembering my grandma

I'm up late sewing curtains for my bedroom.  I cut up a $3 king-sized sheet.  This is great, I am in my element.  I love finding things at the thrift store and giving them a new and useful purpose.  I love saving money on curtains.  I love that no one else will have the exact same curtains as I do.  Totally thrills me.

That is my grandma's sewing machine up there in that photo.  She wrote all the notes on those little labels.  I think of her every time I use it and remember how much she loved to sew.  I feel as though I didn't have enough time with her.  When she passed away, I was newly married with one child....wow, so much has happened since then.  I often wonder what it would be like to spend time with her now and to hear her hearty laughter.  I used to love it when she thought something was really funny and she would laugh so hard...I can still hear the wonderful sound.  

And that is my most profound memory of her.  Her laughter.  

I always felt so special when she would tell me about when I was little.  She would tell of how I knew all the nursery rhymes and how I fooled people in to thinking I could read because I had memorized the story.  A little deceptive of me, I know. ;)

Many times, she would remind me of the time we walked outside and when I saw the sunset I exclaimed "Beautiful!"  I know I was little, maybe about three (?)...anyway she thought it was the most wonderful thing. And I would smile every time she told me about it.  She would also tell of how my grandpa had taught me my colors with M&M's.  And I'm sure there were more things...if only I could remember.  Maybe mom does. ;)

It all makes me think of how short life is.  Sitting there at my grandmother's machine, the same machine that she sat at not very long ago.  She sewed things stitch by stitch, making special things for the people she loved and probably could not conceive of the day that she would not be with us and the truth is neither could we.  I am reminded to cherish the time that I have with my loved ones.  The memories that we make are precious indeed.  I sure miss my grandma.

In loving memory of my grandmother, Johnny Mae (1933-1999)

{  By the way, my mom later told me that I was two when that sunset inspired me to say "Beautiful!"  Man, that must have been so cute!  :)  }

Sharing my heart {blogging}

When my grandmother passed away over ten years ago, she was greatly missed.  I remember being in her home in New Mexico and sorting through things as we helped my grandfather pack everything up.  When we came upon a small journal covered in royal blue Japanese silk, we knew we had found a treasure.  It wasn't filled, but she had written about some of her experiences and her thoughts about them.  I read this journal eagerly, wanting to know even more about my beautiful grandma, who had the best hugs and a laugh I will never forget.  I thought hard about life and the fact that we all have a story to tell.

   I always knew that I wanted to start a journal of my own.  I love the aesthetics of journals.  I admire them.  I have purchased a few of them with dreams of filling every page.  I'd sit down with a brand new journal and think very carefully about how I would put things.  I wanted everything to be perfect, even my handwriting.  This was to be a work of art!  I have a few journals that are barely halfway full.  I actually did fill one and it was quite the accomplishment for me.  But I lament the fact that I always had a hard time keeping up with it.  

   I love blogging because I can share my thoughts and experiences with others in a way that I never could through journaling.  This is the part of writing that I love, I love sharing it!  You can't exactly hand someone your journal and say "Here, read this."  Sure people might find it when I die, but why wait until then to share my heart?  Even my family whom I live with every day has been able to take a deeper look into how God is working in my heart and life and how I think about things.  Sure, we talk about these things all the time, but blogging is a way to say more.  One time, after reading a post, Amera said "I didn't  know you struggled with this mom."  I think it's neat to talk with her about some of my struggles and she shares hers with me too.

  Blogging is a joy for me.  Through it I can share the fullness of my heart that seems to want to burst, though it doesn't always get the opportunity in conversation.  I can remember what God has taught me in an even deeper way, for writing about it makes it even clearer to me.  It helps me to think through things more in depth. 

   So, how do I make this fit into my life?

You know that question "If there were a fire, what would you grab?"

These would definitely be it!  These are three of my favorite things!

   I keep this notebook very handy.  I jot things down whenever I can.  Even if it's just a thought or a paragraph.  I usually have time for writing in the wee hours of the morning (after my new morning routine of time with God of course), there is also the afternoon when the kids are resting and having quiet time which gives me another pocket of time to write (if I have something to write about) and of course there is time after they go to bed at night.  I love writing and so I make time for it.  I pull out my notebook and I scribble it down, messy handwriting and all!  I cross out sentences and sometimes whole paragraphs.  My notebook is my "journal" and it contains all my rough drafts.  Nothing fancy.  I think the fancy journals were a hindrance to me.  After writing, I type it all in at my next opportunity during one of these three times a day.  This usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half, sometimes I cannot finish in one sitting and so I do what I can and then come back to it at another time.   Having my writing already done in my notebook makes it so much easier to type it in.  Sometimes I'll sit and write for about 30 minutes and I end up having to divide that into two or more posts.

   Blogging is my leisure, my time to reflect, I consider it a hobby and I enjoy it very much.  I enjoy crocheting too, and so I do that when I can in between posts.  So, lately I have been writing much more than I have been crocheting.  I also hardly ever watch TV.  Occasionally I'll watch a DVD with my family, but blogging is what I enjoy doing most with my spare time.  Blogging has also replaced my scrap booking hobby.  Ok, it's free, except for the Internet bill, you don't have to pull out a bunch of stuff to do it (and then put it all away), and I can share it with everyone I know!  Uh...I think it's a no-brainer!

   Blogging also encourages me to take more pictures and to more carefully reflect on what God is doing in my life and in the lives of those around me.  

   I live, therefore I write.  Yep, that's my motto.

[an edited re-post from the archives of my former blog // dated 8.1.2011]

conclusions I have come to...

Conclusions I have come to...

1.  My mom is a wonderful person who loves her grand kids very much!

2.  Her husband Kevin is a very sweet and funny guy who talks with the kids and makes us all laugh.  I especially enjoyed watching him interact with Javi.  Very sweet.

3.  Reading a book like "Fandango Stew" can be a very fun way to make some memories.  Who knew?

We love you guys and miss you already!

Fun and free festivities!

   The orthodontist office that we have been consulting with for Brienne's braces had a fun, free, fall festival on Saturday!  How's that for alliteration?  It just so happened to be on my birthday and while my mom was here.  We were considering doing a little somethin', and this seemed like just the thing.  Especially because it was free!

   Thankfully, since we had gotten there fairly early, it wasn't too crowded.  The kids enjoyed sliding down the Titanic slide and bouncing around in the inflatables which they pretty much had to themselves for a while.  Manny however, did not want anything to do with the inflatables.  Probably because the air pumps were so loud.  I think it scared him.  He usually runs and sits on the couch for "safety" when we vacuum, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

   They had a very talented balloon artist on site, who stood ready to entertain children and adults alike.  He certainly had us cracking up.

Manny loved his little "whacker" thing!  

Somehow Joelle ended up with a...uh...beaver.  She did say he could surprise her!  

And she also promised that she would wear whatever he made for her!

   When it was Clara's turn, the guy made her big pink flowers for her braids.  I couldn't believe her reaction when he attached the first one to the end of her braid.  She pulled it right back out again and let it fall to the ground.  What made this episode even more difficult (mainly for me) was that he didn't stop there.  He attached the other balloon flower to the other braid.  Guess what she did that time?  Yep.  She pulled that one out too!  Needless to say, I was embarrassed that my sweet little four year old was being so rude to Mr. Funny Balloon Guy!  How could she?  She was so casual about it too.  She didn't seem upset or anything.  She just did not want those things in her hair!

   Since "Balloon Guy's" flower creations were tossed to the pavement, it really was quite forgiving of him to make a pink poodle for Clara.  Thankfully she didn't reject this offering!  

As you can see, we still got some good use out of those flowers!

   We also enjoyed sitting down to a free hot dog lunch.  They also gave us cookies.  And just in case that wasn't enough sugar for us we had coupons to redeem for snow cones and cotton candy.  Since it was chilly and the result of eating snow cones would probably be a mess that we didn't want to deal with, we decided to forgo them.  We still got the bags of cotton candy though.  We haven't eaten them yet, and I'm not sure if we will...

..................................................................................

   Later that afternoon...

Daddy reads a book (upside down!) to some kiddos who were ready to relax.

...while others frosted cupcakes with Gramma in the kitchen.

They were delicious with vanilla ice cream!

How sweet is that?

   Mom helped the kids to add their own special touches to this apron for me.  It was sweet, the kids were so excited to give it to me.  We could not get Manny to sit still for the picture.  Although he did keep marching back and forth in front of the camera doing things to make us laugh!  

   It was a great weekend spent with the people I love.  

What could be better than that?  God has been so good to me!

Brienne made this sign for me

   

   

   

Time with my mom makes a great birthday gift!

   The past couple times that mom has come to visit, something out of the ordinary has been taking place at our house.  The last time she came, we had fans on the floor in an effort to dry our carpet after an emergency cleaning from our local Stanley Steemer.  Not exactly the kind of thing you want to have going on when family comes to visit.  But mom didn't seem to mind a bit.  She even had a little fan in her car that she contributed in order to help the drying along.  

   This time...well...remember how I mentioned the dirt road in front of our house?  I had wondered when they would begin repaving.  It began yesterday, the day of my mom's arrival.  When she attempted to turn onto our street, the men working there told her that she would have to go around.  After she went around the men on the other side told her she would have to park in the yard of one of our neighbors.  After telling the man that she didn't think our neighbors would appreciate that...they decided to give it a try and see about allowing her to get to her destination.  We were glad she made it and that we can laugh a little about the whole ordeal!  We greeted her with smiles and hugs.   

   The kids really enjoy spending time with their Gramma.  They were so excited about her coming and now that she is here they are thrilled!  They spent some time playing outside together with some bouncy balls Gramma brought for them, lots of talking and laughing and just enjoying being together.  

   Jav came home in the nick of time to sit down for a spaghetti and meatball dinner.  We have been getting a bit spoiled with him being on day shift this week.  The whole experience of him coming home around dinner time and being greeted by excited cheers from the kids has been priceless.  Normally when he comes home from work, we are all in bed snoozing.  

   It wasn't long before we began to wind down for the evening.  The kids were so anxious to try out the PlayDoh that Gramma brought for them.  We actually haven't played with the stuff in a while, so it was a nice treat for them.  Manny was supercharged about it and thought his green "snake" was the greatest thing!  He was so excited about his PlayDoh that he ended up in tears a couple times when something didn't go the way he wanted it to.  Has anyone else noticed the way a two year old can go from zero to sixty in two seconds?  He's learning to talk it out and communicate his feelings, bit by bit, day by day.  I often coach him through the process. 

I always enjoyed making "impressions" in PlayDoh when I was a kid.  I love the way it smells too.

   

Brienne and Gramma sculpted together.

   

   This was my craft of choice.  I admit, I was pretty tired last night.  The laundry still needed folding, and it wouldn't be long before I went back to bed.  But one more feel of the yarn in my fingers was sheer delight.  The music of Pachelbel Canon added to the relaxing atmosphere and the sounds of happy children made me smile.  They couldn't wait to blow up the air mattress they would be sleeping on while Gramma is here.  They gave up their bedroom for her.  Honestly...not much of a sacrifice, since they LOVE camping out in the living room!  I felt a tinge of sadness for Manny who so wanted to be a part of it all, but I knew that the best place for him was his crib.  I don't think anyone would have rested easy with all of his energy in the living room!  

   Looking forward to my birthday today...I am the only one up right now in this houseful of sleeping loved ones.  Hmmm...maybe I should whip up my favorite pancake recipe?  

Happy to be with Gramma!

We had such a sweet time with my mom this weekend.

I told her she should definitely come and visit more often!

"Pleeeeeezzze Gramma!!!"

We enjoyed just being together in our home, talking and laughing with

Gramma.  Mostly laughing at things the kids would say and do.  Pure joy!

At the end of the day we decided to teach Gramma how to play Mah-jong.

I gave the kids the night off in the kitchen so they could play with Gramma.

I took breaks from doing the clean-up to snap some photos.

 Amera states, very matter-of-factly "Mah-jong"

She was quite happy about it.

Saturday morning, Gramma helped the kids to set 

up the pool she brought for them.  They were so excited!

Before she came, she called to ask if it would

be ok to bring it.  So we had a little time to consider this new

venture.  I'm glad we said yes, because the kids enjoyed it immensely!

I had a pool similar to this when I was a kid.  Watching them play brought back memories!

Gramma brought water balloons too!

Thank you Gramma, we love you!!!